India NEWS

India's HPCL Shapoorji Energy Private Ltd (HSEPL) is planning to develop new LNG storage and re-gasification terminal at Chhara in Kodinar. The company has received approval by the ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEF). HSEPL is planning to set up 5 million tonnes per annum LNG terminal. The project cost is expected to be Rs 5,408.82 crore.

World’s largest oilfield services provider, Schlumberger has been reportedly seeking a number of deviations from the original bidding norms of the ONGC tender for the Geleki field. Sources familiar with the matter revealed that the US-based firm is projecting a decline of 26-27% in base production in upcoming years. Schlumberger is seeking several deviations in tender norms for instilling technology to hike output over the reduced base production.

Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) recent decision to pull off investment in global oil and gas exploration firms is expected to affect India’s oil and gas sector as well. The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund has so far made $7.39 billion-investment in Indian firms, out of which RIL ($485.19 million), ONGC ($108.74 million), Indian Oil ($61.6 million) and Oil India ($2.03 million) are some of the big names.

If sources were to be believed, senior government functionaries have directed state-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) to keep the daily price movement of Diesel and Petrol in check until elections. To achieve this, a portion of the price hike in the international market will be absorbed by the country. The new move is believed to avert any resistance on the grounds of a frequent increase in fuel prices.

India's ONGC has won back Chinnewala Tibba gas field in Rajasthan in the second round of DSF. The field was discovered by the company 15 years back. ONGC has won five out of the 23 discovered oil and gas fields the contracts for which have been signed on Thursday. According to the officials, the 72-square kilometer field has 1,900 million standard cubic metres of reserves.

Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd’s ₹28,700 crore-investment proposal received clearance from the Odisha government yesterday. The Indian downstream player proposed to establish an integrated refinery and petrochemicals facility in Balasore. A state government official revealed that the government will allocate land and consider fiscal concessions for the project. HPL’s proposed unit is estimated to produce 1.6 mtpa of paraxylene and 2.5 mtpa of PTA, and light naphtha and petrol.

The Government of India has put forward state-run GAIL’s name as the buyer for gas output from Vedanta’s Barmer block. The production sharing contract for the Barmer block requires producers to sell the output to a government-nominated entity. The block is expected to generate around 4 million metric standard cubic meters a day (mmscmd). GAIL and Vedanta have been in a long-drawn negotiation row over the pricing of the output.

India's ONGC will drill 406 wells in its Mehsana asset in Gujarat whose cost will be Rs 2,403 crore. The firm has applied for Environmental Clearance (EC) for the same. In its EC application, the company has mentioned that “The proposed project will be covering an ML area of 1114 square km wherein 406 wells are proposed to be drilled for development".

The world's biggest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, is planning to invest billions of dollars in India to make it a regional supply hub of crude oil. Saudi's Foreign Minister said that "We are investing in infrastructure that will help India boost its ability to import and export of petroleum products". Further, Saudi is already a part of a JV project that will set up USD 44 bn refinery in Maharashtra.

State-run refinery major, IOCL has entered into $1.5 billion term contract to purchase US crude oil from April. In a company statement, the oil guzzler informed that over 3 million tonnes of US crude will be imported under the contract, as part of its strategy to diversify term crude sources. The announcement for the term contract has come just a day before Saudi Arabian Crown Prince’s arrival in India.

India’s largest oil guzzler, IOCL has received clearance from the Expert Appraisal Committee under MoEF for establishing a grass root petroleum storage and distribution terminal in Telangana. The minutes of meeting disclosed that the proposal involves establishing 28 tanks with a combined capacity of approximately 165 million litres with an investment expenditure of ₹570 crore in Yadadri. The project has been allotted a total area of over three lakh sqm.

India's state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has released its third-quarter report. The firm reported a 65% profit in its third quarter which was primarily due to a substantial rise in prices. According to the report, the crude production of ONGC dropped 4.8% to 6.03 million tonnes. On the other hand, the gas production of the company increased by 6.6% to 6.7 billion cubic meters.

Taking leverage of India's growth story, Kuwait plans to double its investment in the country. The Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) has currently invested five billion dollars in India and further plans for an opportunity of a third party joint project with Delhi. India's Ministry of External Affairs has informed that "India is looking for a substantial Kuwaiti investments in oil & gas sector."

If sources were to be believed, the Government of India has asked refinery major HPCL to recognize state-run ONGC as a promoter in its filings. ONGC acquired HPCL in a ₹37,000-crore acquisition deal in 2018, but HPCL management has persistently blocked ONGC to establish its authority. The government is now looking to end the feud between the entities which has been obstructing synergy gains from the merger.

The Government of India is expecting hydrocarbon exploration area to double to 300,000 sq km by 2020. While the first round of licensing under OALP has already increased the exploration area to 150,000 sq km last year, the second and third rounds are expected to double this figure. An official from DGH revealed that the access to seismic data has enabled the government to offer new acreages to companies.

In an inauguration ceremony yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled BPCL’s integrated refinery expansion complex in Kochi. The integrated refinery comes with world class standards and would establish Kochi Refinery as the largest PSU refinery in India. The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone for a new petrochemical complex at the Kochi refinery, apart from inaugurating a mounded storage vessel at the LPG bottling plant of the IOCL refinery.

In an attempt to reduce natural gas flaring from its oilfields, the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) has asked oil producers in the country to take measures for the same. The sector regulator recently reviewed the efforts of oil producing firms in keeping a check on natural gas flaring. India presently burns almost 2.6% of the net gas produced. Analysts believe such measures would aid the green cause.

Canada-based Niko Resources has served an arbitration notice to its partners in India’s KG-D6 block, RIL and BP plc. According to an earnings statement from RIL, Niko Resources, which holds 10% stakes in the KG-D6 block, had defaulted on cash calls during the October-December quarter. As Niko failed to cure the default, a default notice was triggered and the Canadian oil and gas firm was asked to exit the block.